Restricting Group Creation User Experience

Question

I am looking to restrict the creation of teams within Teams, and I understand that the only way to do so is to block group creation.

Manage who can create Microsoft 365 Groups | Microsoft Learn

It states in there that global admins and other admins will still be able to create groups using the admin portals / Entra. And it says that you can assign a group that will still be able to create groups. What it doesn't say is how the members of that group will be able to create groups.

Unfortunately I have not got a test 365 tenancy within which to try and see what the user experience is like.

Can anyone who has done this advise what the users experience is like for non-admins who are in the exempt group? Will they still be able to go into Teams and set up new teams, or will they have to use a different portal?

Answer 1

Dear Justin Buckingham,

Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to help you.

The article "Manage who can create Microsoft 365 Groups | Microsoft Learn" explains that by default, all users can create Microsoft 365 groups, which is recommended to facilitate collaboration without IT assistance. However, if necessary, you can restrict group creation to specific users by creating a Microsoft 365 or security group for those allowed to create groups. When group creation is restricted, it affects all services relying on groups for access, such as Outlook, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and more. Certain admin roles, like Global Admins and Exchange Admins, retain the ability to create groups through specific admin centers.

When you restrict group creation in Microsoft 365, non-admin users who are part of the exempt group will still be able to create groups, but their experience will be slightly different from that of admins.

Here's what you can expect for non-admin users in the exempt group:

1. Non-admin users in the exempt group will still be able to create new teams directly within the Teams app. They won't need to use a different portal for this purpose.
2. While the primary method for creating groups will be through Teams, these users can also create groups through other Microsoft 365 services that rely on group creation, such as Outlook, SharePoint, and Planner.
3. The exempt group members will have the necessary permissions to create groups, but they won't have the broader administrative capabilities that global admins or other specific admin roles possess.

If you need to set this up, you can follow the steps outlined in the Microsoft Learn article to create a group for users who need to create Microsoft 365 groups and assign the necessary permissions.

Thank you for your understanding and patience. If there's anything else I can assist you with in the meantime, please let me know.

Please understand that our initial response does not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution. Thank you for your patience and cooperation.

Answer 2

Thank you for the answer, the members of the exempt group being able to create them in Teams is the answer I was hoping for.